On this blogpost I talk about Armenia's system of government including executive and legislative as well as how the electoral system works.

1. Charlie Cornwell July 29,
2019
The Government of – Armenia
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-of-armenia/
Armenia is a small country located in the mountainous Caucasus region in Asia, close to
Europe. It was once part of the Soviet Union until it voted to become independent in
1991 after the Unions fall. It is known for having some of the earliest Christian
civilizations and so is defined by its many old religious landmarks. The country is
landlocked, bordered between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan—with which it has went to
war with—and a small part of Iran. Armenia’s capital city is Yerevan, known for its Soviet
era architecture and cultural landmarks and history, such as the Matenadaran library
which houses thousands of Armenian and Greek manuscripts. As of 2017 the country’s
population is coming up to 3 million. The currency it uses is called the Armenian Dram,
which = 1 Dram to 0.0017 Pound Sterling or 0.0021 US Dollars.
Tensions remain between Armenia and Azerbaijan over a piece of land within Azerbaijan
known as Nagorno-Karabakh, which is currently autonomous but with an Armenian
ethnic majority. A devastating war took place between Azerbaijan and the autonomous
region, which was also backed by Armenia. A ceasefire was eventually reached after
Armenia begun pushing into Azerbaijan’s territory and Nagorno-Karabakh remains a self-
governing land within Azerbaijan to this day, but tensions remain between Azerbaijan
and Armenia over the war and flare-ups between the two sides sometimes take place.
Government Type
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2. Coat of Arms of Armenia. In Public Domain.
Armenia is a parliamentary representative democratic republic and it adopted its latest
constitution that lays out the basis of how government functions, in 1995 and
amendments were made in 2005 and 2015. Its government type means it has both an
elected President and appointed Prime Minister and an elected Unicameral parliament
(one equal house that debates and passes legislation and other functions.) made up of
members either independent or from organized political parties. Coalitions of parties
and members may often be necessary to form a working government and keep the
Prime Minister in power.
The Executive Government
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3. The Government House, PM’s residence. Photo by Diego Delso. License.
The executive government includes the President who is Head of State and the Prime
Minister, who is Head of Government and appointed by the President, a candidate
nominated by the National Assembly after Parliamentary Elections. The President
represents the country abroad and over-looks the functionating of government both
executive and legislative, while the Prime Minister runs the executive government.
The President is elected to a 7-year term (originally a 5-year term, but changed to 7 in the
2015 amendment, which some have viewed as corrupt). By the constitution the President
must be independent and not part of any political parties. The President’s powers
include the ability to address parliament, signing legislation passed by the National
Assembly into law, make changes to government on advice from the Prime Minister,
recall and appoint diplomatic representatives, revoke or suspend international treaties
that don’t require ratification on recommendation from the government. On Armed
Forces the President can appoint or dismiss the supreme command of the armed forces
or of other troops and confer ranks. Can decide on granting and termination of
citizenship. Can grant pardons for crimes. Temporarily appoint officials if a body fails to.
Decree executive orders. Appoint deputy prime ministers and other ministers on advice
from the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister heads the government and helps to implement and determine
agenda and policy alongside deputy prime ministers and other ministers. He or she is
charged with submitting the Programme of the Government to the National Assembly to
be accepted, non-acceptance may lead to another Prime Minister being elected and
appointed or may even lead to dissolving of National Assembly and new elections. The
Prime Minister is also head of the Security Council.
The Legislative Government
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4. Armenia’s National Assembly. Photo by Marcin Konsek/Halavar from Wikimedia. License.
The Unicameral Parliament, called the National Assembly has at least 101 members, but
more than that may be elected based on the additional members system used.
Members are elected to 5-year terms in parliamentary elections. Currently there are 131
members. The National Assembly is charged with debating and passing legislation to be
signed into law by the President, supervising the executive government and adopting the
state’s budget. Based on the 2015 constitutional amendment, the National Assembly will
act as a College of Elector’s to nominate candidates for President and elect one, of which
may take multiple rounds until a candidate gets at least three-fourths of the vote.
The National Assembly is overlooked by a Chairperson and three deputies, all elected by
the house with at least one deputy elected from the opposition. These people make sure
rules are followed within the house and that sessions are kept under control. The
chairperson will also set up a council including the deputies and other representatives
and chairpersons of committees to decide on agenda for sessions of the National
Assembly.
As long as the constitution allows, by recommendation of the government the National
Assembly can ratify, suspend and revoke international treaties. On recommendation
from the government the house can also declare war or establish peace unless it is
impossible for the house to sit, in which the government will instead decide itself. The
National Assembly can also lift or cancel the implementation of martial law or state of
emergency if they do not believe it is necessary or is no longer necessary.
The National Assembly can also remove the President from office for crimes, treason or
constitutional violation, based on the opinion from the Constitutional court. Members
require a two-third vote for removal. The National Assembly can also put forth a motion
of no-confidence against the Prime Minister.
The National Assembly confirms appointments of judges for the Constitutional Court.
The court has 9 judges that serve for 12-year terms. Three judges are recommended by
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5. the President, three judges recommended by the government and another three
recommended by the General Assembly of Judges.
Interesting Fact – The Constitution states that At least fifty thousand citizens having the right of
suffrage shall be entitled to propose, upon popular initiative, a draft law to the National
Assembly. Chapter 4 – Article 109 of Armenia’s Constitution.
The Electoral System
Armenia administrative divisions. Photo by Bastique from Wikimedia. License.
The President is elected to a 7-year term by the National Assembly, with a nominated
candidate getting at least three-fourths of the vote, which may take several rounds. A
person can serve as President for the max of two terms (14 years). Nominees must be at
least 40 years old, hold Armenian citizenship for at least six years, have the right of
suffrage and must be able to speak the country’s language.
The National Assembly’s members are elected every 5-years by vote of the people in
Parliamentary elections. Half are elected from closed lists based on the nation-wide
result and the other half are elected from open-lists elected from 13 electoral
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6. districts/constituencies. Voting is by proportional representation and parties need at
least 5% of the vote and blocs at least 7% to be included in mandate distribution. The
number elected fluctuates anywhere from 101 or more due to the presence of an
additional member system that allocates extra seats to make the results more
proportional, also if a party or bloc gets more than 2/3 mandate, any additional mandate
is allocated to opposition parties to ensure that at least 1/3 of all seats are not just held
by winning parties. A 2 round of the election is held within 6 days if no party got more
than 50% of the mandate and subsequently failed to form a governing coalition.
Once the National Assembly is elected, they will nominate a Prime Minister who will then
be appointed by the President.
Thank you for reading this and I hope you learned something and/or enjoyed this
blogpost. Next up will be Australia!
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